The initial reviews and the Rotten Tomatoes score for HBO’s upcoming series Dune: Prophecy are considerably subdued, compared to the Dune movies. The show, taking place 10,000 years before the events of Dune (2021), serves as a prequel to Denis Villeneuve’s films. It revolves around the formation of the legendary Bene Gesserit sect.
First Dune: Prophecy reviews call it ‘Game of Thrones in space’
The early reactions to Dune: Prophecy is mixed to positive, with reviews drawing both flattering and unflattering comparisons between this series and Game of Thrones, another HBO show.
Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph noted, “It feels like a minor miracle that Dune: Prophecy has made it to the screen… An even bigger surprise is that it’s great fun — with the caveat that its spiritual predecessor is less Dune than Game of Thrones.”
Meanwhile, Rolling Stone’s David Fear criticized Dune: Prophecy for “trying so hard to fill a [Game of Thrones]-but-in-space mandate that it often forgets to serve its I.P. narrative duties while bending over backwards to please its corporate masters.”
Emlyn Travis of Entertainment Weekly was more generous toward the series. She hailed it as “a solid foray into the farther reaches of the Dune universe.”
On the other hand, Chase Hutchinson of TheWrap wrote, “This makes for not just good television, but the first steps of a promisingly bold new epic not even the Bene Gesserit could fully foresee.”
According to Fandomwire’s Joshua Ryan, Dune: Prophecy “feels like an imitation, rather than an expansion, of the Denis Villeneuve-directed films.”
Vicky Jessop of London Evening Standard pronounced Dune: Prophecy “gorgeous” but “dry.” She later added, “The end result is a concoction that is difficult to digest – surprisingly so, given the good will generated by Denis Villeneuve’s films. This rarefied world of nobles and witches needs more space to breathe – a sci-fi Game of Thrones this is not.”
Dune: Prophecy’s Rotten Tomatoes score isn’t as good as the movies
Dune: Prophecy has garnered a lower Rotten Tomatoes score than both the Dune movies.
The upcoming series currently has an approval rating of 74% on the review aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes after 26 reviews. In comparison, Dune: Part One (2021) has an approval rating of 83% after 514 reviews, and Dune: Part Two (2024) has a 92% approval rating after 448 reviews.
Dune: Prophecy premieres on HBO on November 17, 2024.
